Copyright 2006 T. Sheil & A. Sheil All Rights Reserved
Last year, at this time, our old HP IIID laser printer failed for the last time. An attempt to replace it with a used printer went sour. The replacement was a dud. Due to a lack of funds – things are very tight in our home in the current economy – we do not see ourselves buying a printer in the foreseeable future.
Milihistriot Quarterly is worth the effort. To that end, I am producing this “lite” version for the Internet. We will be bringing you an assortment of articles on various themes. So please bear with us as we try to keep Milihistriot coming for you. I hope we get into print soon. Once that happens, we will resume our regular operation and maintain a small online version.
Thanks for your support.
Like many of the folks my age, I enjoyed the classic spy thrillers of the Cold War era. In later years, I have enjoyed an occasional look into the very real history of American espionage. Spying is a fascinating business, provided you are not involved. It is also totally unlike the movies. Characters like the James Bond of the movies would have a short career in real espionage. Much of the work is tedious. Rarely do spies get involved in wild gunplay or the other adventures of their cinematic equivalents.
You would be surprised to know that spying’s history is no longer a great secret. You can go to the CIA website and find articles about such clandestine operations as the Jedburgh Groups and the OSS Operations Groups. There are books – some useful and others questionable – about such unusual espionage outfits as the Japanese Ninja.
So what do spies have to do with military miniatures? The Jedburghs and Operational Groups worked in military uniform. They were composed of soldiers and much of their work was military. Ninja were also a military group. In the fictional realm, movie spy organizations had uniformed private armies. From Auric Goldfinger’s Chinese soldiers to the uniformed cadre’s protecting Ernst Blofeld’s installations, some quasi-military types made themselves manifest. Whether in fact or fiction, espionage crosses the line to the military, and vice versa.
My only regret is that I could not get more on the Ninja at this time. I have material, but compiling it has been difficult due to some other projects.
A good rule when dealing with mercurial topics is to take an adamantly skeptical approach. In cases where facts are mixed amid rumors, legends, obscurities and braggadocio, the only useful thing is that which can be proven. All else is hot air until it is either proven or debunked.
This issue gave us four such topics: martial arts, Ninja, spies and the occult. In all of these, legend melds with exaggeration. Actual facts are extremely hard to prove. My basis for saying this is past involvement in two of them. I tried my hand at the martial arts, and also had been involved in esoteric matters.
What do they have in common? Martial artists and occultists like to have secrets. These are held like a badge of honor, and wielded to impress awestuck novices. I have heard of everything from secret punches to secret rituals to secret “words of power.” The irony in this is that anything really worth knowing cannot remain hidden. The main use of secret things is to bolster the egos of those who have them. Promises of “secret knowledge’ is one of the oldest come-ons. Frankly, most of these secrets really don’t amount to much.
As in all things, the truth is a lot less exciting than the myth.
Martial artists, spies and occultists all like to talk about the legends. They also like to establish a long heritage. Spies want to link themselves to the old “black bag” days of the OSS and SOE. Martial artists want to show a lineage connecting them to legendary masters of the past. Occultists try to so the same. It is all about demonstrating that they are the true, authentic thing. In a world where history’s records are sparse, they believe that saying so might make it so.
I am not implying that the people in question are unskilled in their respective arts. Unskilled braggarts are a dime a dozen, indeed, but there are genuine experts who have amazing skill in their trades. They are just as likely to pass on the stories as the windbags. A good percent of the skilled people believe the tales, at least enough to warrant repeating them to others. The fact that an expert believes a story is not a 100% guarantee that it is true.
What we call a “ninja” is an icon from Japanese culture. He is a medieval-type figure clad entirely in black. The ninja is called an “assassin,” but in popular myth he is more like a commando. Assassins do not have a good reputation, but commando types get respect.
The ninja is reputed to be an espionage specialist. Spying has existed in every culture, in one form or another. Medieval Japanese leaders used spies. There were some in every feudal province. The samurai leader of a province would have a nest of spies working for him. They would be his own men. Often, spying was the specialty of a family, and its members would serve the same feudal house from generation to generation.
The independent ninja clans were descended from people who lived outside the local ruler’s reach. The best lands were owned by the feudal chiefs. Independent clans were left with the less accessible, less hospitable places. I doubt they did as much ninja work as claimed. Their small armies were mainly intended to protect them from bandits, other clans, and forces of the feudal overlords. Just as likely they did a little banditry of their own. Some became the Yakuza, Japan’s Mafia. Similar independent groups in Europe had functioned as revolutionaries, bandits or both. These kind of groups were the forerunners of various secret societies, including the Mafia and Comorra.
Some of the independent clans set themselves up as mercenaries. “Spies for hire” is as good as any other racket. If stealth helped the little independent clans survive, why not profit from it?
My opinion is that they were likely independent little groups of people who were driven outside of the regular society. They took up residence and thrived where there was a “power vacuum” in the feudal society. The martial aspects were a matter of self-protection. In feudal; realms, every clan has its military element. The espionage angle was likely a sideline that derived from the clans’ need to keep an eye on their powerful feudal neighbors. If the feudal forced decided to purge the hinterlands, advance warning was needed to escape or formulate a successful defense.
The Ninjutsu we see today focuses mainly on martial arts. If it is as authentic as its adherent claim, then it is likely descended from the skills used to defend the clan in the old days. You cannot judge authenticity by a fighter’s ability. I have seen extraordinary martial artists who made some obviously bogus claims of authenticity. I have also seen honest and sincere men who believed the wild claims made by individuals they trusted.
The various “mind control” tricks used by the modern Ninja schools are similar to Western occultism, right down to the magickal claims. The techniques may be different ,but the underlying principles are pretty much the same. Ninja technique is different from the Zen that goes with Karate and aikido. The tricks look and sound better. In the end, it is another form of meditation and mental work.
If you want to spend time learning exotic Asian fighting skills, Ninjutsu is just one more system from which to choose.
Espionage and assassination are only glamorized in movies. In real life, they are not glamorous. Assassination is the realm of the mold cold-blooded, brutal type of killing. Espionage is the place of deceit, trickery, backstabbing and outright lies. They may be necessities for governments, but they are not the milieu of healthy human beings.
Spies deal with the lowest elements of society. They use people, then leave them to their own devices. Doublecrossing is common.
I think a lot of people who take up espionage have an altruistic purpose, but eventually succumb to the cut-throat culture and black bag mentality.
It is fun to take a look at the spy game. A passing glance is more than enough. Look too long and you begin to entertain the paranoia, suspicion and cynicism of that are the hallmark of espionage.
The Impossible Mission folks in the television series were usually up against forces serving a foreign government. Their adversaries were men fighting for their country: soldiers, counterintelligence agents and secret police. The IMF agents’ opponents were altruistic when it came to fighting. They did not break and run without a fight.
That was not
the case for other spy shows.
Common to the James Bond and Man from Uncle genre were well-heeled,
sophisticated organizations independent of government. Respectively, the organizations
were called Spectre and
Thrush. Spectre (Special Executor
for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) was Bond’s nemesis,
while Solo and Kuryakin dealt with Thrush (Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of
Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity). Both organizations were swerved
by agents and cadres of rank-and-file workers.
Thrush and Spectre could afford excellent
facilities, the latest technology and any number of fine cars, boats and
aircraft. They were attended by a
well-armed force of uniformed men, and a varied group of specialists and
commanders. Both groups were actually hi-tech criminal organizations. Their technological expertise and
funding were something real criminal groups could never attain. (The cocaine cartels came close.)
Could groups like this exist? Hardly. First of all, a real criminal
organization would have had to be much more secretive and “low key.” The bigger a thing is, the more it
leaves evidence of itself. Ernst
Blofeld’s operations were all so grand that they would leave some trace that
something big was happening. A
larger problem would be staying secret when a plan involved so many people. You have to wonder where they would
recruit the technicians, construction workers and armed
troops.
Since both organizations are criminal in nature, we get the issue of the troops. There are men who will hire themselves as mercenaries and who will be very daring. They are the military version of “extreme sportsmen.” Most of those hired as troops would likely be less than heroic. They might fight, but the minute things got hot, they would run. Money is nice when things look good, but it is poor incentive to put one’s life in jeopardy. Think of it this way: How many career criminals would sacrifice their lives so that their boss could escape with the loot?
What kind of spying exists outside government espionage? Not much. Industrial spying is a low-level form of espionage used by corporations to trump each other. However, it rarely gets violent. Even then, the level of violence is much less than that of genuine government espionage.
Police use spy tactics. Detectives are like spymasters who assemble and analyze information. Undercover officers are spies, and in their world, the stakes can be as high as those for government covert agents. Criminals sometimes use spies to infiltrate other gangs. On extremely rare occasions, criminals have been able to get one of their number on the police force, or get corrupt police officers to work for them.
Spying costs time and money, so most criminal groups would not be involved in it.
While researching Ninja, I came across several of those little controversies that make for entertaining reading. I realize that they are entertaining only for outsiders. The folks embroiled in the controversies are not amused at all! We go back to the 1960s, when Karate was just getting into the public eye. The place was Chicago. The main event was a man known as Count Dante. Older readers might remember some of this.
Back in the 1960s, many a comic book and pulp magazine carried a bizarre advertisement. There was a picture of a man in a black robe making unusual hand gestures. Beside him was the headline “World’s Deadliest Fighting Secrets.” The advertisement was for a booklet on self-defense. It made immense claims of having an extremely lethal fighting method. The booklet purported to teach a “dance of death” against which there was no defense.
The advertisement had been the brainchild of karate instructor John Keehan, a.k.a. Count Juan Dante. In his heyday, Keehan was a colorful character whose reach extended beyond his hometown of Chicago. Sadly, in ended with his early demise from a stomach ailment. The Keehan / Dante saga was a mercurial tale of good beginnings and a murky end.
Keehan started out as a teenager with boxing and Judo. He earned himself a position teaching Judo at a local school. Energetic and charismatic, he traveled to Arizona to learn Karate from Robert Trias. In time, he earned his certification and was given permission to teach Karate.
John Keehan did just that. He opened his school to any who wanted to learn. Unusual for the time and place, Keehan took Black students. He treated all equally, and was regarded as a good teacher. According to his former students, Keehan emphasized the basics. His teaching style was patient and thorough.
To boost Karate’s appeal, Keehan started arranging tournaments in the Chicago area. They attracted many of the big names in the sport. He would sometimes add a few unusual gimmicks to attract crowds.
Keehan made some changes. He changed his name to Count Juan Dante, claiming to be Spanish royalty. Then he started advertising in comic books and pulp magazines. Keehan’s ads offered a course in “the world’s deadliest fighting secret.” It included the “Kata dan te”, his “Dance of death.” Included was a membership in the ”Black Dragon Fighting Society.”
Along with the new persona came some new trappings. Keehan opened hair salons. He had encouraged friends to try it, claiming the flexible schedule left time for martial arts AND hairdressing was also a good way to pick up women. Keehan’s other gig was as a bouncer. He purposely dressed in a way that would invite trouble, just so he could show off his fighting skills. Then came the pet lion cub, which he walked on a leash. That was also something of a gimmick to attract women.
Keehan was not in control of his anger. He was known for provoking fights. That, along with his tendency to take things to the extreme, had cost him friends. Keehan did not rein himself in, so to speak. The result was that as quickly as he made new friends, he lost old ones.
In 1970, Keehan had a dispute with another school of martial arts. His closest friend at the time was Jim Koncevik, a martial artist who enjoyed brawling. One evening they were arrested for placing blasting caps on the school’s windows. The two of them took a few students and went to the school. A brawl ensued, and in the wake of it, Koncevik was killed by a sword. There is no consensus among participants about exactly what had happened. Keehan’s crew was not even certain why they went there. One rumor claimed that it was over a Playboy bunny, another that money was involved. True to Loki, chaos erupted for reasons that nobody knew, least of all the participants!
The death of his friend was enough to make Keehan tone down his behavior. Keehan tended to his salons and his chain of porn shops. His reputation among the martial arts community was badly tarnished. The man tried one last time to jumpstart his flagging career, but the tournament was a flop. At the same time, he was thought to be involved in an armored car robbery. Though cleared, Keehan moved to Fall River, Massachusetts, to salvage himself. There he revived his school with the help of a fellow named Bill Aguiar. Dante never got to see the end of it. He died in his sleep of a hemorrhage caused by a stomach ulcer at the ripe old age of 36.
Keehan is linked to another controversy which involves Ninja. A “Black Dragon Fighting Society” in Florida claimed to be a Koga ninja group. The leader is called Ashida Kim, also known as Radford Davis. Along with selling cheap copies of Dante’s booklet, Davis and company churned out a steady stream in Ninjutsu books. This brought them the undying hatred of Aguiar and his successors, to whom Keehan had passed on leadership of his school. Like Ratatosk of Norse myth, the squirrel who carried insults between the Eagle and Wyrm, the two camps trade barbs.
According to one writer, Kim admitted that his only contact with Keehan was attendance at some seminars in the late 1960s.
Kim has also gained the enmity of other martial artists, mainly those affiliated with other Ninja schools. They express serious doubt about Kim’s credentials. Whether his Ninjitsu is genuine or not, Kim has shown in his videos that he can perform the techniques he teaches. Kim is in his late 50s and remains active in the martial arts.
The other big name in American Ninjitsu is Stephen Hayes. In the 1970s, Hayes went to Japan to learn from Hatsumi, the grand master of the Togakure Ryu. Hayes returned and gave Ninja clinics and seminars, returning to Japan to finish is training. He and his crew have also churned out a slew of books. The technique looks to be an unusual form of jujitsu and Japanese traditional weapons. It is definitely a martial art.
By comparison, Kim’s system is more reminiscent of Karate and Kung Fu.
Are they authentic? That is not for me to say. My background is mainly in modern military systems of combatives. All I can give is my opinion.
It looks as if these Ninja systems are mostly about the martial arts. They specialize in armed and unarmed fighting, restraints and general combatives. Combined with them are concealed movement, surreptitious entry and camouflage. That covers a very small part of espionage. In modern terms, they equal the skills of papramilitaries like the commando units maintained by the CIA, KGB, Mossad and British Intelligence. Modern intelligence agencies devote most of their work to gathering and assessing information. Paramilitaries are only used when things get nasty. By extrapolation, we can surmise that these Ninja schools focus mainly on the medieval Japanese equivalent of paramilitaries.
Does this seem unreasonable? Think about it. A martial art and commando style training are much more exciting than the mundane work of most covert agents. 90% of real spies do not even carry a gun!
I think that the intelligence agencies of the world are the real Ninjitsu. The stuff taught by Hayes and Kim are survivals of another time, blended with modern embellishment. While they might prove ingeniously effective in the streets, I doubt they have much relevance to the real game of espionage. I certainly doubt the CIA, NSA or MI6 will be knocking any time soon.